


Kings

by radiantsage



Category: Fire Emblem Series, Fire Emblem: If | Fire Emblem: Fates
Genre: Amnesia, Angst, M/M, Pseudo-Incest
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-07-11
Updated: 2016-07-11
Packaged: 2018-07-22 23:59:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,305
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7458682
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/radiantsage/pseuds/radiantsage
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After sitting on the throne said to possess mythical abilities in the Kingdom of Hoshido, Kamui was able to regain his memories of his childhood in the peaceful kingdom.<br/>Shortly after he was forced to make the most difficult decision he'd make in his life: return back to the family that lovingly raised him or choose his birthright and join his blood family. His love for his Nohrian siblings prevailed and he turned his back on Hoshido.<br/>But after returning to Nohr, something was amiss. He may have remembered everything from his childhood, but he had completely lost every memory of something - or someone - very important to him. Leo.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Alright, this is the first story I'm publishing here after only reading stuff in AO3 for two years. I noticed the lack of Male Kamui/Leo stories, which is rather unfortunate, and that's why I decided to write this. It will get pretty explicit later on... for now enjoy the angst. I chose to use the name Kamui for the male avatar since I think it's better than the name Corrin. Sorry for any mistakes since English is not my first language.

Sitting on the small table of the still foreign room, I stared out of the window. Head resting on my hands, both my elbows on the table, I sighed, looking at the horizon. The Hoshidan family I had betrayed was somewhere out there.  
Except it wasn't.

This was the astral plane, some sort of parallel world created by the First Dragons. I didn't quite understand it to be honest, but we were safe to live and train here as long as we wanted before making our next move against Hoshido. Against my birth family. The ones that treated me like one of their own (and I was one of their own) despite being away from them for so long. Didn't I do the right thing though? Xander, Camilla, Elise... they all need me. I couldn't leave them behind. That's right. They're my real family, the only family I have.

"Something troubling you, milord?" Jakob asked from the corner of the room he was sitting at, without bothering to raise his head from the garment he was mending.

"Hm? No, nothing..." I shook my head, looking at him.

"I-Is everything okay, milord? Here, let me bring you some tea..." Felicia stuttered as she carried a tray with beautiful glass tea cups in it. Knowing Felicia all my life, that was not a very wise decision.

Soon after, her shoe got caught up in the carpet and with a gasp she leaped forward, the tray and the cups flying in the air. I jumped from my chair and managed to catch them both, nearly missing one of them. Hot tea spilled all over my clothes. The tray landed on Felicia's head, who was now face-down on the floor.

"Oh gods" I muttered, placing the cups carefully into safety on my table.

Jakob didn't even bother to react.

"Hey, Felicia, everything okay down there?" I asked calmly as I kneeled and touched her arm. From the movement of her body I could tell she was sobbing.

"Of course not!" she cried, getting up and picking up the tray. "Gods, I'm such an awful maid! I'm the absolute worst! I wish the ground would open up and swallow me right now!"

All I could do was smile shyly as I listened to her complaints.

"It's alright, Felicia. You offered tea and made it for me. That shows your kindness" I said before sitting down on the chair again and taking a sip from the tea, trying not to frown. Gods, it was more bitter than black coffee.

"That's what you always say, Lord Kamui..." she continued sobbing while looking at me. "Oh no... I got it all over you! Again!"

I chuckled, trying not to make it seem as too much of a deal.

"Oh, this? It's alright, I didn't even notice... hey, you don't have to do that! It's fine!"  
Felicia had taken a handkerchief and was rubbing it all over the stain like a maniac. I couldn't help but laugh at her efforts. Well, at least that managed to cheer me up a little.

*

The sun was beginning to set and I was still in that room. My room. It still felt so foreign.

"Milord, it's almost time for dinner" Felicia said. "You are to go to the Mess Hall."

Her words echoed in my head. I heard her, that's for sure.

 _Yes, Felicia. I'll be ready._ The Kamui inside my head replied.

"Milord, excuse me but... did you hear me?" she asked, reluctant.

_Yes, Felicia. I'm listening._

No, something was missing. There can't be that big of a void inside my head. I thought I remembered it all: drawing those family pictures in my room in Hoshido. Hinoka and mother. Following Ryoma around the training grounds and swinging a sword for the first time. Hinoka and I in that field. Mother eating rice balls at the festival. Ryoma taking me on his shoulders. Baby Takumi in his crib. Takumi crying in the middle of the night. Hinoka again, smiling at me. Sakura making paper cranes. Father... Father being shot by dozens of arrows. Cries and screams that were my own. The deep voice of the tall scary man that picked me up. My inability to go away. And then... It's Xander. Xander and I gazing from the tower's window. Xander teaching me how to fight. That strange bird in the barn. Camilla taking a bath with me. Camilla singing me to sleep. Camilla showing me that rainbow. Silas and I sneaking out to have a picnic. Elise jumping around me. Elise showing me her healing abilities. Elise making flower crowns for everyone. Felicia and Flora and their cold fingers. Jakob reading to me in the library. Gunter, Lilith... No, wait. I remember all of them. All of it.

This has been my life so far. Nothing is missing. I shook my head.

"Lord Kamui, I'd advice you to stop acting like a little brat and follow Felicia to the Mess Hall."

 _Yes. That's Jakob's voice when he's really angry at me. Guess I'll have to go._ Sighing deeply I stood up and met Felicia's worried gaze. Her eyes were trembling like a candle's flame. Was she scared?

"Milord..." was all she murmured as I passed by her and towards the door.

*

On our way to the Mess Hall, Felicia and I didn't say anything. I was mad at myself for truly acting like a brat earlier and maybe that's the reason she looked so sad.

"So, Felicia, what do you think's for dinner tonight?" I chirped cheerfully, trying to wipe that frown out of her face. To my disappointment, she was looking at the ground.

"I'm not sure, milord. I-Is there anything specific you'd like?"

Hearing her voice calmed me down a little. Maybe she wasn't upset after all.

"Hm, no, not really. Just not fish. It's icky" I shook my head.

"F-Fish? I don't think we can find any fish around here, so you'll be alright, milord!" she smiled and her face lit up, as she brought her hand in front of her mouth to hide her blush.

_Good. Now she'll be alright for a while._

The sunset truly was magnificent. I never got tired of looking at it. It reminded me of the tower I grew up in. I may not have been able to see the real world up until now, but that tower will always be my home. Laslow and Selena where talking in the distance. He was holding flowers. I remembered them. I knew all of my siblings' royal retainers. Unfortunately, one of my retainers, Gunter, had died tragically not too long ago. Jakob, Felicia and her twin sister Flora where all I had now.

There was a large tree behind the mess hall, looking directly towards the river that was flowing inside the fortress. As we passed by it I paid no attention to the tree, but Felicia turned her head and bowed.

"Prince Leo! Good evening!" she greeted, smiling sweetly.

Leo? Leo? Hearing the name, I felt something pierce through my stomach. Looking at the boy sitting against the trunk though, made me feel like someone was impaling my heart.

Him. A few leaves had fallen in his blond hair, kept neatly in place by a black hairband. His brown eyes were fixated on me. He closed his heavy book and stood up, removing the leaves from his hair.

"Evening" he greeted Felicia, always with a serious tone in his voice. Then he turned to me. "Evening, Brother."

"Hey" I mumbled. To me, he was a complete stranger. We kept staring at each other.

"Well, um... I have to go see if everything's r-ready! Is that okay, Lord Kamui?" Felicia asked with obvious embarrassment.

"It's fine..." I said. Leo was holding his book on his right hand and smiled at Felicia.

"Yes, you can go. We'll come in a few."

Both of us watched her leave, tripping in a few pebbles that were lying here and there. Once I made sure she was far away enough, I bravely turned to face Leo. He was younger than me, but easily taller. That definitely made me feel inferior and defenceless.

"Listen, I—"

"No. I need to talk first" Leo cut my sentence in half. I couldn't detect any anger in his voice. It was soft, maybe a bit shy and awkward. The wind made a few more leaves fall on both of our hair.

"Okay" I sighed, removing a leaf and inspecting it. It left a faint glow, then disappeared in my hand. My eyes widened, not being able to believe what I saw.

"Leo, what—"

"I'll talk." he sighed. "Brother, why did you forget about me?"


	2. Invitation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Kamui has no idea how to approach Leo.

_"I'll talk. Brother, why did you forget about me?"_

His words lingered in the air for a bit before I fully understood what he said.

_I don't know who you are. I didn't forget about you. I simply don't know who you are. Everyone tells me you're my brother but... you're not there. In my mind, I mean. Elise said my memories might come back after a while. It's not my fault, I promise. I just have no idea who you are._

"Um... you know that was out of my control, right?"

Great. Now I sound like I'm desperately trying to justify myself for doing something like this on purpose.

Leo sighed, watching as a leaf landed on his hand and disappeared. I hadn't noticed, but all of them were disappearing slowly, one by one. Leaving faint green glows behind that floated for a bit before returning to wherever they came from. I looked at them mesmerised, raising my head up. Leo did the same.

"They look like fireflies. What are they?" I asked. Leo sighed once again.

"Guess I shouldn't have expected you to remember." Once he said that, all of the leaves disappeared at once. "I thought these leaves might help bring some memories back, but forget it."

"Leo, listen to me, please." His brown eyes looked at me, filled with sorrow. What exactly did I want to tell him? What exactly where those eyes telling me?

"'Leo'? What happened to 'dear brother'? You called me that ironically when we argued, but I still... whatever. Forget it." Leo clicked his tongue.

"I can start calling you 'brother', if you want to" I said. This was getting really uncomfortable. I clenched my fist nervously and felt cold sweat all over my body.

Leo frowned for the first time and came closer to me.

"I don't want you to say it without meaning it. I don't need it if it's half-assed like that. I understand."

He walked away towards the mess hall, holding the book tightly by his side. I followed him from a safe distance, looking at my feet. Suddenly, I heard a small chuckle and Leo stopped. I noticed his eyes were a bit watery, but he didn't look sad. He was angry.

"Of course you'd forget about me. I'm not Xander or Camilla. They were the ones that spent so much time with you. So it's fine. I guess it's better this way. Please don't bother talking to me again, Kamui."

I didn't feel like replying. He was a stranger to me after all.

*

A few weeks passed and my life turned into a monotonous routine. I'd patrol around the fortress, attend meetings with Xander and the generals to devise our next strategy, train, defend the fortress from invaders, go into battles, return alive and so on.

I'd often see Leo around the fortress or in the heat of battle. We never exchanged a word. He'd usually sit by the large tree, reading, or hang around with his two eccentric retainers, Niles and Odin. I'd talked to them a few times and boy, were they weird. They seemed to be really loyal to Leo and I bet he was saying bad things about me to them. Since he hated me and all.

In battle he was something else. Riding on top of his black horse, he seemed taller and more intimidating that usual. Superior than the others. Leo seemed to like to degrade everyone not using magic, since he thought it to be the finest art of fighting. That's why he loved to proudly show he was a user of tomes and spells. He seemed unstoppable, but always graceful. He definitely transformed from the quiet, lost-in-a-book boy he was when not in the battlefield.

It occurred to me that I didn't hate him. Leo not wanting to call me his brother anymore hurt a lot. I hadn't talked to anyone about it, but people seemed to notice. Silas first of them all. My childhood friend bombarded me with questions until he realised I wasn't going to tell him anything. Felicia also tried to cheer me up, always failing terribly in ways similar to the tea cup incident. Jakob did not seem to care much, and concluded that I was simply acting like a spoiled kid. This was between Leo and me. No one should know.

One day I decided I was going to bring Leo back into my mind. He didn't seem angry most of the time; just lost and sad. I wanted my brother back, even though I didn't even remember I had one in the first place. I wanted to be worthy of him, even though he was younger.

_"Don't bother talking to me again, Kamui."_

These words were repeated in my head over and over whenever I looked at him. The look on his face at that time was engraved in my mind. It was the only thing that stopped me from approaching him and talking to him, beginning everything from the start.

"Lost in thought again, milord?" said Jakob's stern voice. We were sharing tea in my room.

"You bet" I replied and sipped my tea.

"I see. Sadly, I'm not going to run behind you until you get better like the others."

"Honest to a fault, right, Jakob?" I smiled. At least he wasn't pressuring me to spill the beans. That calmed me down. I could be as grumpy as I wanted with Jakob around.

"Always, milord."

"I like it this way better. I don't really feel like talking."

Something had to be done. For me and for Leo. So we would both get better. So that day, I made a spontaneous decision.

"Jakob. Could you please call Leo here for me?"

"Lord Leo? That is a strange request, given the circumstances" Jakob noted as he stood up and took his cup to the sink and rinsing it off. Of course, everyone had noticed that I didn't know who on earth Leo was.

"Yeah, I know..." I bit my lip. Maybe I made the wrong decision. But I felt like I had to talk to him. Explain myself a bit better.

"I'm happy you two want to talk again. You used to be quite close, if I may add, milord."

Close? No way. I would never erase someone from my memory if he was so close to me. It would be like forgetting that Xander, Camilla and Elise exist. That could never happen, right? It would be horrible. And on top of that, _impossible_.

"I'll go fetch Lord Leo right now. I'll be back, milord."

That's when I started to panic. A lot. I was sure Jakob would return empty handed, since Leo doesn't want anything to do with me. What if he did come, though? He'd probably tell me how he's not Xander or Camilla and then leave. I was so anxious I started walking in circles in my room and counting to a hundred.

I counted two times to a hundred and was in the middle of the third time when there was a knock on the door. My legs felt weak and I somehow managed to stumble towards it. The door opened without me having to say anything. There stood Jakob and of course, Leo.

As if Jakob would not force Leo to come here, since I asked him to.

Leo was staring at me, holding his book on one hand a wooden box on the other.. Jakob was smiling.

"Here he is, milord" he said, patting Leo in the back.

"Yup. In the flesh." Leo commented and came inside. I was speechless.

"Shall I leave you alone, milord? Do you need anything else?"

"Um, no, Jakob, I don't need anything. Thank you."

"I shall take my leave then."

I turned around and to my horror, Leo had gotten comfortable on my table, looking out of the window. He had places the book and the box on the table.

"Tell me what you want" he said and crossed his arms in a defensive position. Was he doing that because he didn't trust me?

"Well... first of all, why are you talking to me?" I asked. It was the first thing that came to my mind.

"I'm not. I'll leave soon. Niles and Odin are waiting for our chess game" he said somewhat sarcastically.

"Okay..."

We spent a couple of minutes in complete silence. Leo kept tapping his fingers on the table, something which made me more nervous. I couldn't force myself to sit down no matter what I did. I stared at him and tried desperately to find something familiar in him. Nothing. He looked so calm but I was sure the thoughts were racing in his brain. He looked pretty mesmerised by my view. His doe-like eyes seemed tired and sleepy.

"You like the view?" I asked awkwardly. That's the only time he looked at me in the eye.

"Why did you invite me here again?" he said in a flat one.

"Um..."

"Whatever. Good night, Kamui." He stood up and left by himself. The room became much larger and emptier. I'd much rather have someone here, even Leo and that uncomfortable atmosphere, than be by myself. I could call Jakob. Or Felicia. They wouldn't have a problem with it, right?

Camilla wouldn't say no either. But no. I don't want to be treated like a baby anymore. And one of the reasons that Leo seemed to dislike me so much was our older siblings paying more attention to me.

_Why wouldn't everyone just leave me alone?_


	3. Chess

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Something happens.

"Jakob, could you please call Leo here for me?" I asked while I was mindlessly playing with my fingers.

"I'm afraid I cannot, milord" Jakob replied. He was polishing some of my weapons along with Felicia. I sighed loudly in disappointment. Sitting with them, I took the tool out of Felicia's hands and proceeded to polish my Yato blade.

"And why's that?" I continued, clutching the divine blade into my hands.

"Prince Leo himself asked me not to summon him into your chambers again. Therefore I cannot, since it's a direct order from Prince Leo" Jakob explained. A louder sigh escaped my lips.

"Lord Kamui!" Felicia cried and stood up. I had to raise my head to look at her. "Wh-When will you stop this nonsense! It's futile. How many times does Jakob have to tell you that Leo does not want to visit you anymore?" I gritted my teeth.

"Well, he's only visited me one time, so I don't see any reason why he wouldn't want to visit me a second time" I frowned. Except for the whole _"You forgot about me so you're not my brother anymore, that's why I never want to see you again in my life"_ thing.

"I can't stand seeing you suffer like this, is all. Milord, you should take better care of yourself! We're all worried about you! Besides..." she lowered her head, possibly to hide her red face. "... I'm sure that your memory will be restored soon. It's all going to be okay, Lord Kamui." 

_Ah, dammit._ Felicia sure does know how to make me feel better. I couldn't stop a wide smile from forming at my face. Leaving my Yato on the floor (to which Jakob reacted pretty badly) I stood up, facing Felicia. Then, I did the only thing I felt like doing at the time. I hugged her. Really tightly. I could feel her warmth and her face lied still, against my chest.

"Felicia, you're honestly the best! You seriously know how to put a smile on someone's face."

Felicia blushed and straightened her dress.

"I... I do?"

"Yes! Of course! That's why we need you here! And that's why..." , I said as I grabbed my cape and pulled it over my shoulders, "... I'm now going to find Leo myself and bring him here!"

Jakob groaned and shook his head.

"That's definitely... the opposite thing of what we were trying to accomplice." the butler noted.

But I didn't care cause I was already on my way to Leo's favourite place.

*

Unfortunately, no one was sitting on the large tree's trunk. I asked around but no one had seen him all day. Great. He'd always be under that tree when I was desperately trying to avoid him and now that I really needed him, he wasn't there. On my way back to my room where I was going to rot for the rest of the day, and possibly my life, I saw a familiar figure. That tight, bright yellow and revealing uniform that left very little to the imagination could belong to only one person in this army; Odin. He for sure knew where on earth Leo was. I walked up to him and tapped his shoulder. He dramatically turned around and stuck his arm towards me, in a way his hand stood an inch away from my face. 

"Lord Kamui! Surely fate has made our paths cross today! The darkness upon you is smiling!" he said, making sure to shout every word so that practically everyone in this fortress could hear him.

I tried my best not to stare at his well built chest, which was right in front of my eyes.

"Hey, Odin. How are you?" I smiled awkwardly. Leo's retainer started laughing really, really loudly.

"Oh, on such a day, the dark spirits that inhibit my heart have surely been generous! It's surely a great day to name things. Hey, you need anything named? Is that why you decided to visit Odin Dark today?"

"Actually, no. Sorry..." I gazed at the ground, embarrassed. What the hell was I doing? I was unable to understand half of the things this man was saying. And yet I continued.

"I'm here to ask you about Leo. Where is he?" I asked, looking around, as if I was expecting Leo to appear any moment. He, Odin and Niles where pretty much always stuck together so he shouldn't be far.

Odin continued doing strange hand gestures and inhaled deeply.

"Lord Leo..." he breathed. "The darkness inside me whispers". He muttered, closing his eyes. "It's telling me... Lord Leo is on his way to your private quarters!"

"By the gods, is that true?" My mouth was wide open. What did Leo want from me? Why was he going to my chamber?

The feeling I had in my heart when I heard those words from Odin was a strange one. Not quite happiness, but I smiled. Maybe it was relief. It was the first time that Leo had initiated a move. My memories might return after all. Yes. If I spent more time with Leo, they surely would return.

"Thank you! Honestly!" I smiled and almost hugged Odin. If it wasn't for his outfit I definitely would have done it.

I ran back to my room while jumping around a bit out of joy.

*

As I approached my house, panic had overtaken all my other emotions. It felt as if my heart was going to get out of my chest any moment. Leo hated me. He never wanted to see me again. Jakob made that pretty clear. So what did he want, paying a visit all by himself like that? Maybe he regretted ignoring me all these days. Maybe he wanted us to get as close as everyone says we were. _I worry too much._ All I could hear from inside my quarters was silence. Usually Jakob would be scolding Felicia, or Felicia would be humming a tune while cleaning around. Not this time. They probably had errands to run. _Or Leo murdered them._

I shook my head to get the thought away. What was I thinking? Of course Leo wouldn't do anything bad like that. He was a gentle person. I could feel it.

It took all my willpower to open the door.

The room seemed empty at first. The curtains were dancing around due to the breeze coming in through the window. The scene was coloured in a purple-orange hue due to the setting sun. And Leo was there. Sitting on my table as if it were its own. Two thoughts came to my head.

_Leo sure matches the beautiful sunset colours so well. It almost looks as if it's part of him._

_Why do I always meet Leo during the sunset? I'm starting to associate him with the setting sun. Which I find an extremely comforting and beautiful sight._

On the table he had a brown box. Once I set my eyes on it I recognised it as the same box he was holding last time he visited me. Leo smirked a little and blinked.

"Hello, Kamui" he greeted me in his soft voice. I gulped and shifted my weight awkwardly. 

"Leo. What are you doing here? Jakob said—"

"You can sit down. Would you like to play a game?"

Leo sure liked to interrupt me while I was talking.

"Okay" I agreed and sat facing him. "What's this box?" Seeing it up close, I noticed it had pretty carvings all over it, resembling flowers, mainly roses. It looked a bit worn and quite old.

He started laughing. Oh gods, his laugh. It filled the whole room. It was different that his usual voice, full of little gasps as he tried to breathe properly. Made my heart race. 

"This, Kamui, is chess. We used to play chess a lot when we were younger. I think it sparked your interest in strategics" he explained. Leo was talking about our past. It's almost as if he was trying to help me remember. All I could do was nod.

"I don't think I've ever seen this game" I said blankly.

Leo opened the wooden box and turned it around. Black and white tiles where drawn into it. He started taking some small figures out of the box. The figures were separated into black and white ones, just like the tiles. I grabbed a white one and inspected it.

"These are the pieces. Each player has sixteen pieces at the start of each game. The one you're holding is called a bishop" Leo continued. He took it from my hands and placed it on top of a tile in the box. "This is the chessboard. Each piece has specific place in the start of the game. For example, the bishops are placed here."

He took the other bishop and placed it on the board. This already seemed quite complicated and made my brain hurt. Leo continued to explain and showed me the rest of the pieces and their names and their positions on the board. Only two of them were left. That's when our eyes met. He took one of them, the black one and showed it to me.

"Now listen very carefully. This is the king. If you lose this, it's game over." I nodded without removing my eyes from his chestnut gaze. A faint smirk could be seen in his face. I followed his hand, which grabbed the white king and reached towards me. He placed it on my palm. His hand touched me. It was oddly soft, as if I was being touched by velvet. Leo then grabbed my palm and closed it, securing my grip around the white king. "Don't let me take this king away from you."

I nodded once again, still able to feel his touch. "H-How do I lose it?" 

He continued to explain every single detail on the rules of chess. I listened carefully. By the time he finished, the sun had already set. I had to stand up and turn on the oil lamps in order for us to continue. Maybe I should have made him some tea, but I would probably screw it up. Leo was calm the whole time, as if nothing had happened. That's what bothered me the most. It felt like he would attack me any second now. Was this all a fraud? Or did he just enjoy teasing me that much? 

"So" Leo cleared his throat. "Would you like to play?" 

"P-Play? Like right now? After I just learned this game exists?" I protested, to which Leo chuckled. I was tired of this teasing. "Why did you even come here after ignoring me all this time, only to teach me this stupid game? How will that be of any use to you?" 

Leo's face darkened and he stood upright. "Kamui... you need to stop questioning everything so much" He clicked his tongue. "But since you want to know, fine. I thought my chess games with Odin and Niles had gotten quite dull. That's why I thought I could invite you to play with us." 

"You really think you can just talk to me whenever it's convenient for you?" I stood up, placing my hands on the table with force. Some of the pieces fell off the chessboard. "How am I ever going to remember you in the first place if you keep acting like this?" 

Leo's lips moved slightly. I could tell his mind was racing, thinking, trying to work out the best possible thing he could say. There he was again, this cool, carefree attitude of his. I sat on the chair, sighing loudly and, remembering the things he told me earlier, I moved one of the pieces. 

"Your turn" I murmured. We played in silence. Within a few rounds, he check-mated me. 

I groaned and stood up, heading towards the kitchen to pour a glass of water. My hands were sweaty and red. There were so many things I wanted to shout at him. But the words wouldn't come out. Looking behind my back carefully, I noticed Leo was putting all the pieces back inside the wooden box. His hair fell on his face even though his black hairband was holding some of it into place. The chess game couldn't bring not even a single memory back. It only made things between Leo and I more awkward. 

"Chess is a good game" he noted. "It's a really good game for the exercise of the brain." 

"Mmm..." 

He looked at me for a second, then turned his back at me and headed towards the door. That was when I noticed something I should have noticed much earlier. Leo had been wearing his collar inside-out this whole time. I could tell from the white tag hanging from it. The words came naturally out of my mouth. 

"Leo... you're wearing your collar the wrong way." Leo turned around really quickly, and his face was red. For the first time, I could tell he was embarrassed. He quickly fixed it without saying a word. 

"Don't ever mention this again" he spat. 

"Sorry, I thought I should let you know" I said quietly. Leo adjusted his hairband. 

"Thank you, Kamui". This was the last thing he said before he left, closing the door behind him. He didn't even give me the chance to reply. 

That night, I replayed the chess rules in my head over and over again, thinking of the best way to beat Leo at least once. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The thing I want to show in this work the most is Kamui's confusion - awkwardness with the whole situation. Next chapter will have more interaction with Leo and other characters :)


End file.
